Dehydrated edible product and method of obtaining same



May 14, 1946. J. M. HALL 2,400,460

DEHYDRATED EDIBLE PRODUCT AND METHOD OF CBTAINING SAME Filed 0a. 1942 ,jiwerzbr Q2 cJOSe UZZMHa ZZ y 1 fi o/we: .5;

- Patented-May, 194sv accuse nanrnaamn anmm rnonuo'r AND ma'rnon or-oa'rammo sm loo'ephltmchlcagallhalsirnortobning Oonoen a tratin:

Delaware Company, a corporation of Application October 1, m2. Serial x... mm

11 cum. (case-20s) This invention relates to desiccated foods or edible products, as meats, fruits and vegetables, and the juices thereofland the method of dehydrating the same. 7 V

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved method of dehydrating and for concentrating edible products, fruit and vegetable jucies, and the like...

A further object of the invention is the pro-- vision of a new and improved method of dehydrating fruit and vegetable juices, such as orange,

of the dehydrating chamber when thrown against th same by the centrifugal action of the spirally moving air. This necessitates scraping the walls for removing the material andconsequently such a method is impractical.

Likewise, in dehydratlng'meats as well as c'ertain fruits and vegetables, the product in an in- I termediate stage of dehydration becomes tacky tomato, and the like, in systems employing currents of air in the dehydration operation. Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved dehydrated or concentrated food product, whether of vegetabl or animal origin, and the method of obtaining sugars, or fats and sugars, that are not tacky or hygroscopic and that will retain their essential characteristics for long periods of time.

A further object of the invention isi new and improved method of dehydrating foods or edible products, such as certain fruits and vegetables and the Juices of same, such, for instance, as orange, tomato, and the like, that is simple, in-

expensive, and economical to initiate and to practice on a production scale. 1

Other and further objects and advantages will appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, in which 7 Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for performing the drying or dehydrating operation; and

Fig. 2 is a section on th line 2-4 of Fig. 1. In th dehydration of certain fruit and vegetable Juices, such as the juices of oranges, to-

matoes, and the like, by way of example, it is common practice to employ heated rolls over which the Juice is caused to new in a thin film and to scrape the dried particles from the face of the rolls during their rotation, but this is an expensiv method. The method 01' dehydrating juices of vegetables and fruits by currents of heated air, as by spraying the juice into the conventional cyclone type of driers employing spirally moving currents of air, has not heretofore proved successful due to the fact that during the process the particles become tacky in an intermediate stage oi drying and stick to the walls or sticky and will adher to the walls of the dehydrating chamber unless provision b made to prevent this adherence.

The present invention seeksv to remedy this dimculty by treating the edible products in such a manner, before the drying operation, that they may be dehydrated in the'conventional cyclone type oi. dehydrator. The tats of the meats, and the fats and sugars of certain of the vegetables and fruits, causethese products to become tacky or sticky in the intermediate stage of dehydration.

It has been ,discovered that if meats, broths, soups, fruits and vegetables, and Juices of fruits and vegetables, be treated with a liquid containing proteins, such, for instance, as the protein contained in soy beans, the blood of animals, or

the whites of eggs, and th like, in the required amount, the resulting liquid product may be dehydrated as efllclently as milk, or the like, in the cyclone type of drier. Proteins being tasteless.

a has been extracted. This meal, being rich in proteins, isadmirably adapted for use in preventing the foods from becoming tacky during dehydration, because in extracting the oil from' the soy bean meal a very large portion of the characteristic soybean taste is removed. The meal is inexpensive, whereas the protein extracted from the soy bean, or obtained from cast, being similar in appearance to egg white.

Since the defatted'soy bean meal is'substantially tasteless, it may be added to any food product without change in the characteristic flavors thereof.

The amount of protein employed will vary with the difierent products dehydrated; that is, the amount required depends on the amount of fats and/or sugars contained in the product. It is only necessary to employ enough protein to prevent the product from becoming tacky during the dehydration omration. In the case of meats, the more fat the meat contains the more protein is required to prevent the product from becoming tacky during the dehydration operation. In practice, the protein employed may be in dry powder form or dispersed in water, but in either event it is thoroughly mixed with the product and the product reduced to the proper consistency to be treated in the dehydrator.

The amount of protein to be added to the Juice depends on circum-' make a total of 25% of the dried particles.

In order to dehydrate meats, fruits and vegetables, they must be reduced to such a finely divided state that when water, or the liquid mixture of protein and water, has been added to the comminuted product it will be of such consistency that it will be readily discharged through the spray. Any suitable means may be employed for comminuting or reducing the product to a finely divided condition; meats, for instance, may be treated in a hammer mill which reduces the particles to the proper fineness. be comminuted in any well known manner. The liquid product may be prepared in any suitable manner. In dehydrating Juices oi. fruits and vegetables, the liquid product may be thinned sufliciently by the addition of the protein mixture, but if not water may be added. In meats, the protein mixture added may be suflicient to produce a liquid product of the proper consistency to be sprayed readily, but if not it may also be thinned.

The drawing discloses one form of apparatus that has proved practical in dehydrating meats and various other products. It is highly successful in treating orange and tomato Juices with proteins from soy beans, the whites of eggs, and also with proteins obtained from blood.

Any suitable apparatus may be employed for dehydrating the juices. That shown, whichis by way of example only, is similar to that disclosed inmy United States Patent No. 2,289,191, dated July '7, 1942.

It may, of course,

This apparatus I0 comprises an evaporator chamber II in which the juice is concentrated,

and which may be termed the first stage evaporator; an evaporator or dehydrator chamber I2.

in which the concentrate is dehydrated, and.

8. A pump I9 is employed for transferring the liquid product from the reservoir I8 to the spray mechanism 2|, which is rotated by a motor 22 for spraying the liquid into the first stage evaporator II for concentrating the same. The concentrate is collected in the bottom of the evaporator I I, and is transferred to a spray mechanism 23 where the concentrate is sprayed by the rotating spray member 23 into the dehydrator or second stage evaporator I2.

The drying medium for thesystem is a suitable gas, such as air, which, in the form of construction shown, is in a closed circuit and is conducted through the system in a direction counter to that of the liquid product. In tracing the air through the circuit and beginning at the fan It,

the air passes through a heater I3, where it is heated to a suitable temperature, and then passes through a conduit 20 into a snail 24 into the second stage evaporator I2, where it is discharged across the spray nozzles of the spray member 23 in a downwardly moving spiral. The air will move downwardly in a spiral and then upwardly in a spiral of smaller diameter, and during its movement will evaporate the moisture contained in the atomized particles of the liquid product. The spray member 23 has nozzle carrying arms so that are shaped to form a fan blade, as shown in Fig. 2, for exhausting air from the chamber I2. The air will pass axially upwardly into a conduit 25, which delivers the same into a snail 28 above the first stage evaporator II. The snail causes the air to enter the top of the evaporator II in the form of a spiral discharged across the distributor mechanism 2| in the manner described with reference to the movement of the air and liquid in the second stage evaporator I 2.

The air passes out of the first stage evaporator I I upwardly into a conduit 21, and from the conduit through the heat exchanger I5 downwardly into the condenser I 8 and back through the heat exchanger I 5 through conduits 28 and 29 back into the fan I 4, thus completing the circuit.

The air, in passing through the second stage evaporator, willbe above its saturation point.

.It is then-conducted through the first stage evaporator, where it absorbs moisture from the raw product and becomes substantially saturated. Since the aircirculating system is a closed one, it is necessary to provide means tor removing the moisture absorbed in the evaporator ii and dehydrator I2. The air from the first stage evaporator I I is conducted through the heat exchanger I! and through a condenser I6 through which cold water is circulated. Moisture is removed in both the heat exchanger and condenser. From the condenser 18 the airflows through the conduit 28, heat exchanger I5, conduit 29', and back to the fan. As the air flows through the heat exchanger from the conduit 28, it is heated byv the air flowing downward through the exchanger, which air in turnwill have its temperature reduced and some moisture will be precipitated therefrom before it reaches the condenser. The remaining moisture that is removed is precipitated in the condenser.

. The desiccated or dehydrated liquid product collects in the lower portion of the dehydrator I 2 and is adapted to be removed through a rotary valve lI into a. conduit 32, from whence it is conveyed to the cooler or collector I! by a current of air introduced into the conduit 32 by a fan 33. This air, introduced through the Ian 33, cools the product, and the product is separated hydrated by the use of air or other gases in the cyclone type of dehydrators, and any suggestions herein made are not to-be construed as words of limitation. The above is a description of what has been done, but the reason for the changes in the characteristics of the product is not clear.

The following is oflered as a mere suggestion of a possible reason. 3

It is known that solutions of proteins are usually in colloidal state, the particles being held in suspension; and that they, or at least certain types or them, have an afllnity for water. It is also a theory that the particles of a colloid carry charges of electricity. These charges cause the particles of the colloid to repel one another, thereby preventing agglomeration. 'These electric charges may be discharged by salts or by certain acids. It is probable. that when the protein particles, which, being colloidal and probably charged, are brought into contact with the liquid product, they may have their charge dissipated by the salts andacid of the product. Then these protein particles may collect on the surface of the individual particles of the product, where they mechanically prevent the surface of the juice particles from becoming tacky, or due to their afllnity for water, may absorb the moisture from the surface of the, juice particles and give the same up to the heated air during the final stages of the drying operation, thereby preventing the suriace or those particles from becoming tacky.

But whatever may be the theory, the surface of the particles or liquid product, when treated with proteins, is prevented from becoming tacky and sticking to the walls of the dehydrator,

whereby the product may be dehydrated in a continuous process and in a commercial and practical manner. Likewise a product is produced that is non-hygroscopic.

While the terms fruits" and vegetables" are employed, these terms are not intended to be mutually exclusive, as some edibles or the vegetable kingdom may be regarded as either a vegetable or as a fruit, as, rorinstance, tomatoes.

bles and juices otthe same.,by mixing proteins therewith, the solid content of which is equivalent to not less than 25% of the solid content or the dehydrated product, and then evaporating the moisture from the mixture.

2. A dehydrated fruit juice product comprising a powder of line particles that are non-hygroscopic, the solid portion of whichcomprises substantially 25% protein and the remainder being dehydrated citrus juice.

3. A dehydrated fruit juice product comprising a dehydrated mass that is non-hygroscopic, substantially 25% of which is protein and the remaining 75% of the mass being dehydrated tomato juice.

4. A dehydrated vegetable'juice product comprising a non-hygroscopic dried mass, 25% of which is protein and the remaining 75% of the mass being solid orange juice product, the dehydrated product being substantially uniform in composition throughout its mass.

5. A method of dehydrating orange juice which comprises extracting the juice, promptly adding to the same a quantity of proteins in such an amount that substantially 25% of the final-dehydrated product is protein, mixing the mass,

proteins into a current of heated air, and finally separating the same from the air and then cool- The term mea is employedfto include edible 7 products obtained from the ammn kingdom.

This application is a continuation in part of my application serial do. 317,351. died February a It is thought from the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that changes in size, shape, proportion and detail may be made without departing from the spirit a and scope or the appendedclaims.

Iclaim as my invention: 1. A method of dehydrating fruits and vegetaing the product.

6. A method of dehydrating orange juice which comprises extracting the juice from the oranges,

mass into a moving current of air, separating the dehydrated particles from the air, and finally cooling the dehydrated particles.

.7. A dehydrated fruit juice product comprising a powder of flne particlesthat are non-hygroscopic, the solid portion of which comprises substantially 25% protein and the remainder being dehydrated citrus juice. 8. A dehydrated fruit juice product comprising a dehydrated mass that is non-hygroscopic, substantially 25% of which is protein and the rema g of the mass being dehydrated tomato juice.

9. "A dehydrated vegetable juice product com-. prising a non-hygroscopic dried mass, 25% of which is protein and the remaining 75% of the massbeing a dehydrated orange juice product, the dehydrated product being substantially uniform in composition throughout its mass.

10. A method of obtaining a dehydrated nonhygroscopic food product in powder form from a material that is normally tacky at an intermediate stage of dehydration, which includes the steps of mixing with said material a substantially tasteless *proteinace'ous d product, substantially tree from oil'conten't, in a quantity suflicientto prevent the material from becoming tacky, and then dehydrating the mixture.

11. A method of obtaining a dehydrated non- .hygroscopic food product in powder form from a material that is normally tacky at an intermediate stage'of dehydration, which includes the steps of mixing with said material soybean protein, substantially free from oil content, in a quantity suflicient to prevent the material Irom becoming tacky, andthen dehydrating the mixture.

JOSEBH M. HALL. 

